"Can a work teach us to look again? What truth does art seek? What place does error occupy in the creative process? What does it mean to understand a work of art?" These and many other questions appear on the screen of an old television, placed on two broken armchairs from the emblematic old Cine Comedia, psychodelically painted with eyes and elements of nature. They become the artistic proposal made by students from the LCI Barcelona design school and are part of a much larger and ephemeral collective work: more than 90 students from art and design schools in Barcelona have transformed the 500 armchairs of the old cinema, before it is demolished, to become the first artistic work of the future Carmen Thyssen Barcelona Museum, which will open its doors, in this same space, in 2028.
This has been the will of Baroness Carmen Thyssen, who wanted the city's youngest talent, the new generations of artists and designers, to be the first creators to give life to the museum space. And the performance becomes a declaration of intentions of what the city's future museum will be: although the Carmen Thyssen Museum will mainly focus on Catalan art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the Baroness's collection, it will also give space to current and future artists.
In fact, Baroness Thyssen, during her visit to the old cinema building, when she walked this Thursday among the redesigned armchairs and chatted with the emerging artists, expressed her conviction —and enthusiasm— that some of these young people present "will end up exhibiting in this same building in a few years". But no longer as students, but as emerging artists with a promising career.
This will also be a space for new talent". With this conviction, the baroness's daughter —who has accompanied her mother in this event, which has had considerable media pressure— has indicated that the museum will be born with the vocation of combining established artists with new talents and offering a platform to develop emerging careers, something that —as she has said— was demonstrated yesterday. What has also been demonstrated is Carmen Jr.'s involvement in the future museum and the role she will have as successor.
Dance, gastronomy, and fashion will also accompany painting
Returning to the artistic project —as requested by the family—, the collaborative work atmosphere has been accompanied by the presence of renowned artists who have shared reflections, advice, and dialogue with young people, and have applauded the works. In fact, they have been artists from very different branches, a sign that the future museum, in addition to painting, will also include fashion, dance, gastronomy, music, and digital arts. The 10 great figures of the international cultural scene who have sponsored the future museum with this event have been the Chilean painter Guillermo Lorca, the illustrator Jordi Labanda, the chef Carme Ruscalleda and her son —also a chef— Raül Balam, the fashion designer Pablo Erroz, the global urban art reference TVBoy, the designer Javier Mariscal, the sculptor Samuel Salcedo, the universal ballet legend Julio Bocca, and the model Judit Mascó.
Joan Manuel Sevillano, director of Stoneweg Places & Experiences, the real estate company that is promoting the project, has explained this commitment to the diversity of artistic branches: "we want to exhibit established works from the 19th and 20th centuries, but also reach new generations through their language and contemporary artists."
"And so it has happened: the 90 young design students have been able to comment on and explain their works with these 10 renowned guest artists, and have been able to build bridges of art and illusion between the most consolidated and emerging art. In fact, they know that what they don't explain now, will no longer exist later: their collective work is ephemeral. Except for some armchairs that the baroness will keep as a souvenir —and exhibit—, the armchairs will be destroyed during the comprehensive rehabilitation that the emblematic building will undergo, which will be carried out by the Casper Mueller Kneer Architects and OUA studios, and which will only preserve the facade and the original roofs.
Thus, before being demolished, Stoneweg Places & Experiences and Carmen Thyssen have given it a last artistic use that responds, in fact, to the first question that appeared on the television of one of the armchairs renovated by the LCI Barcelona design school: "Can a work teach us to look anew?" And yes. Without a doubt, we will never look at Palau Marcet, which housed the Cines Comedia for 60 years, the same way again.
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